


Summer Shenanigans

by JetGirl1832, tomatopudding



Series: The Hamilton Family Album [34]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: 4h of july, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Candy, Canoe trips, Care packages, Color War, First Kiss, Gen, Hamilkids, Poison Ivy - Freeform, Pranks, Sneaking Out, Summer Camp, camping gone horribly wrong, christmas in july, don't mess with the hamiltons, hair cuts, lice, summer shenanigans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-04
Updated: 2017-03-10
Packaged: 2018-05-18 04:06:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5897599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JetGirl1832/pseuds/JetGirl1832, https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomatopudding/pseuds/tomatopudding
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Summer is the best time of year, especially if you are one of the many people going off to camp for eight weeks. The Hamilton's are no exception, each one of them having spent a number of years at Camp Allegheny in upstate New York. These are the tales of glory, embarrassment and so much more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Summer Lovin'

**Author's Note:**

> Set in the same verse as nearly all our other fics involving the kids, the idea of the Hamilton kids going to camp was tomatopudding's but the references for stories comes from JetGirl1832 a longtime summer camp veteran. These stories will not be posted in chronological order, it's not necessary. But as with our other pieces there will ages listed at the bottom of the fic!
> 
> P.S: We are looking for someone interested in turning our first chapter "Summer Lovin'" into a comic strip, message us if you want to know more!

2009

Theo had just left the art building when she spotted some of her bunk mates chatting, she didn't think anything of it and was about to go down to the lake front when she caught a snippet of their conversation.  
  
"No way!" Lauren shook her head.  
  
"It's true! Angie hooked up with Stevie Knott last night!" Kayla replied, "I swear on the soul of my Mr. Snow my pet hamster!"  
  
"Angie would never," Lauren frowned.  
  
"But she did!" Kayla continued, "come on everyone has been talking about it, I'm surprised you didn't here about it till now-"  
  
Theo didn't understand, she knew and Angie mentioned that she thought Stevie was cute but to hook up with him? As far as she knew Angie still had never even had her first kiss... She shook her head, she was going to find out the truth for herself. She continued on down to the lakefront as she planned when she spotted the two oldest Hamilton siblings.  
  
"Angie!" Theo dashed over to where Philip and Angie were sitting under a tree near the lake, "is it true?"  
  
"Is what true?" Angie turned to face Theo her brow raised.  
  
"Did you really hook up with Stevie Knott?" Theo asked slightly breathless.  
  
All the color drained from Angie's tanned skin, "What?!"  
  
Philip furrowed his brow as he listened to the conversation unfold between his sister and her best friend.  
  
"How did you find out?" Angie asked.  
  
"Molly and Kayla were talking about it with Lauren," Theo explained, "so it's true?"  
  
Angie nodded her head and slowly leaned back against the tree, "No one saw us how could anyone..." she then lay her head on her knees, "he swore he wouldn't say anything!"  
  
Theo sat beside her best friend, "That was your first kiss wasn't it?"  
  
Angie looked at Theo her face red, "Yes..."  
  
"Oh, hon," Theo cooed, flinging her arms around Angie.  
  
"Is he really telling people we hooked up?" Angie asked in an uncharacteristically small voice, "Because we only kissed."  
  
"Don't pay attention to him," Theo said dismissively, "everyone know that boys exaggerate that kind of stuff."  
  
"That doesn't make it okay!" Angie frowned.  
  
"No it doesn't," Philip's hand clenched into a fist.  
  
"Oh no," Theo put her hand on Philip's, "don't you dare do something stupid Philip Hamilton."  
  
"Me?" Philip asked incredulously with a grin, "When have you ever known me to do something stupid?"

"Philip..." Theo spoke seriously. 

"Fine," Philip rolled his eyes, "but he's not going to get away with this, this guy picked the wrong girl to mess with, I won't just let this slide."  


"Damn you and your pride," Theo sighed.

Philip rose to his feet and began walking to towards the mess hall. The older campers had free time and he knew that the guys in Angie's year liked to hang out in there. Philip pushed the door open and scanned the room, it didn't take him long to spy a clump f guys in the back corner laughing loudly. He casually walked over hoping to suss out exactly who Stevie Knott was.  


"...so we went to the boat shed, you know where they keep all the life jackets and stuff," one of the boys was saying, leaning casually against the wall on one cocked hip, giving off waves of confidence. 

"No way," one of the others said in hushed awe.

_Bingo..._ Philip thought to himself.

"I tried getting with her last summer and she blew me off!" One of the others declared, "You lucky bastard!"

Philip really disliked the smug look on Stevie's face but he promised Theo he wouldn't do anything stupid, like punch him in the face... No matter how tempting that might be.

"She definitely has it going on, if you know what I mean," laughed Stevie with a cocky grin. 

This had gone far enough.

"Are you talking about Angie Hamilton?" asked Philip, keeping his voice steady. 

Stevie turned to him, the grin becoming a smirk, "Yeah."

"Uh, Stevie," one of the other guys hissed. Philip recognized him from the previous year so he, at least, knew Angie and Philip were related. Stevie was not as lucky.

"I would leave her alone if I were you," Philip folded his arms across his chest.

"Why?" Stevie said with a laugh, "we're you planning to go for her? Because there's not a chance on that. She's mine." 

No one owned his sister, that just sounded so wrong in Philip's mind, "I don't think so..."

"What're you, her boyfriend?" smirked Stevie. He was still leaning against the wall, looking like he thought he owned the world. 

Philip slowly stepped forward, watching the way the younger boy's eyes got wider and his smirk began to waver. Philip stopped when he was right in front of Stevie.

"No," he replied in a low voice, "she's my sister." An evil grin spread across his face as he watched Stevie's expression turn to one of fear and, he was pleased to note, a hint of shame.

"You know maybe you and I should have a little chat," Philip raised his brow, "what do you think?" 

Philip liked to thing he was giving this guy a courtesy, if his father had heard Stevie talking about Angie like that he was certain he would not live to see another day.

Stevie was averting his gaze, the cockiness he had been exuding before completely gone. 

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

Philip scoffed, "I am not the one you should be apologizing to." 

Stevie gulped. 

"Think you know what you need to do," Philip prompted, "right?"

Stevie nodded vigorously, his eyes squeezed shut so that he didn't have to meet Philip's gaze. 

"Well, are you going to go fix this?"

Stevie nodded his head once again and went to take leave of the dining room with his friends following. 

"One more thing Knott," Philip called out, "once you're done? Stay away from my sister."

"Yes, sir," Stevie squeaked out. Philip smiled smugly to himself as he watched the younger boy leave. 

 


	2. Girls Pranking the Boys

It was the second day of the boys camping trip, time for Angie and the rest of her cabin to enact her plan. As per tradition when the boys would go on their camping trip, the girls would attack. Not that two weeks later the boys wouldn't do exactly the same thing, but that wasn't the point. 

Angie was pleased to say the prank was all her idea, and when they had all pitched in to have their counselors buy the necessities.

Originally, she had chosen that particular boy's cabin because she wanted to get back at Stevie Knott for the rumors he had spread about her the previous year, but when, upon entering the bunk, she saw Philip's things at the counselor bed...well, that would certainly make this endeavor just a little bit more fun.

"Now what?" Theo asked.

"Well we need presents, so let's find something for each of them and we'll take them back to the cabin and wrap them in newspaper," Angie decided as she began to paw through Philip's things immediately knowing what to look for.

"We'll start with the tree," said Callie, another of the girls in their cabin. She and Marissa had gone out into the surrounding woods and found a small tree and put it in a bucket of soil. The two of them set about decorating it and settling it up in the corner of the room. 

 

"We've got lights and garlands to hang," Lily held a shopping bag and a roll of duct tape on her wrist.

 

"Don't forget to get everything all snowy," Theo reminded them, indicating the bags of cotton stuffing by the door. 

So the girls set to work, making everything the perfect winter wonderland for the boys to return to.

 

When the boys returned around 2 the next day they were tired and Philip most definitely was looking forward to a shower.

"Alright, gentlemen," said Philip, "Let's drop out things off in the cabin and then hit the showers before dinner."

The boys mumbled their assent as they trooped through the grounds to their cabin.

"Come on Stevie," Philip called out to his camper who grumbled. Philip knew the younger boy disliked having Philip as his counselor, particularly because of their encounter the year before.

When the straggler had caught up, he and Philip walked the rest of the way to the cabin and found the other boys all clustered in the doorway, their voices a hubbub of confusion. 

"What is it guys?" asked Philip, "What's going on?"

Pushing his way through Philip gasped, their cabin was nothing like how they'd left it. It was obvious they'd been pranked in their absence.

Every surface was covered in heaps of cotton stuffing and it seemed that some areas had even been sprinkled with flour to increase the snow effect. A small tree, decked out to the nines, stood in the corner of the room and bright tinsel was strung along the walls and falling from the ceiling.

"Oh my god..." Philip gasped.

The boys were so shocked as they took it in they barely noticed one of the girls entering wearing a red hoodie, fake beard and carrying a bulging pillowcase, "Merry Christmas boys."

She upturned the pillowcase and a pile of newspaper-wrapped items scattered across the floor. 

"Have fun!"

She turned on her heel and left as the boys cautiously approached the pile. Philip furrowed his brow as he spotted a package with his name on it, it was then he knew who'd been behind this.

"Angie..." Philip shook his head.


	3. 4th of July

Color war, the highlight of every fourth of July celebration, what better way to show patriotic spirit than two and a half days of nonstop competition?

Ever since she started going to camp, these two days had been the best part of Angie's summer and this year was no different.

And now it was all about to come to the end with the Apache Relay, after completing her portion (running around the bases five times, to Angie a piece of cake) she was making her way down to the waterfront.

The last part of the relay race was confined to the eldest campers only, as it consisted of rowing with a team to the island in the lake and then one person swimming back.

However by the time Angie made it to the dirt path that separated the sandy lake front from the rest of the camp it was swarming with campers and staff. At only eleven years old and being a little small for her age Angie was having a hard time trying so see what was going on.

There was too much cheering going on for anyone to hear Angie when she tried to ask to be let to the front. 

"Need a little help?"

Angie turned to find Philip smiling at her. 

"I dunno, you're the enemy," Angie grinned. This year, she had been placed on the red team while Philip was on the blue team.

Philip simply rolled his eyes and before Angie had a chance to say anything else he lifted her onto his shoulders.

Angie giggled, placing her hands in Philip's curls to keep her balance. He wrapped his hands around her ankles for further support.

With Philip's added height Angie could now see well over the crowd, she could even make out the boats in the distance going towards the island.

"Go red!" Angie cheered.

"Come on blue!" countered Philip. 

"The blue team will never win," Angie told him, tapping her heel against Philip's chest.

"And what makes you say that?" Philip asked.

"Cause blue sucks," Angie replied in a matter of fact tone.

"Blue does not suck," scoffed Philip, "You know why?"

"Why?"

"Because I'm on the team," laughed Philip, bending his knees suddenly and causing Angie to shriek slightly and grip him tighter. 

"Not funny, Pip!" Angie said, but she was also laughing.

"Sure, of course not," Philip chuckled, "that is totally not why you are laughing right now."

Angie playfully tugged at Philip's curls, "Well we're still gonna win."

While they had been paying attention to each other, the teams had entered the last leg of the relay, the swimmers working ferociously to try to pass each other during the last stretch.

It was a very close race and a quiet gripped the crowd, this was it. With the Apache being worth the most points it usually was the deciding factor in who won.

Philip and Angie were both so focused on watching their respective teammates that they didn't notice at first that the swimmer for the third team, the white team, was slowly pulling ahead. As the last few strokes were being made, the crowd of campers once again became a frenzy of noise and cheering, particularly from the third of the group that wore white t-shirts.

The white team captains immediately began the last part of the relay, they had to build a fire and burn the rope stretched tight across.

"Looks like my team won."

Both Hamilton siblings turned to see that a grinning Theo had approached them and was now standing with her hands on her hips.

"Hey there might still be a chance," Angie pouted tapping Philip's shoulder for him to put her down. Although in reality she knew that the chances were slim, especially since the had glimpsed that the white team already had a small blaze going.

"Don't worry," Theo said, hooking her arm through Angie's when they were both on the same level, "I'll share some of the victory chocolate with you."

"Duh," replied Angie.

A loud cheer erupted which signaled the rope had been burned and all the campers rushed across the road and into the cold waters of the lake.

"Come on!" Philip grabbed Angie's hand.

By virtue of their arms still being connected, Theo was dragged along as well and the three of them were soon waist deep in the water. 

Angie decided to give Philip a shove causing him to lose his balance, by the time he got back to his feet his curls hung limply around his face.

"That is not a good look for you," Theo teased.

"Psh, everything is a good look for me," Philip said, flipping his hair over his shoulder like he was in a shampoo commercial.

Angie and Theo began to giggle.

"Well even though the white team may have one today," Theo was trying to speak above the din of their fellow campers, "you know what they always say-"

"What?" Angie asked.

"Everyone's a winner at Camp Allegheny!" Theo replied grinning.

"Stupidest phrase ever!" Angie tackled Theo sending them both into the water as Philip looked on in amusement.


	4. Care Packages

Sometimes the best part about going to to camp was the letters you got while you were away. Needless to say the Hamilton's always had something at mail call. Without fail they got at least three letters a week from their father, their mother would update them once a week with the goings on in DC, including things their father conveniently left out of his own letters. But the best were the care packages, approximately three times during the summer Eliza would put one together (with notes specifying what was for who) of summer essentials such as sunscreen, bug spray, chap stick etc.

 

Eliza had just finished compiling her most recent one and, having let John decorate the box so he could send something to his siblings as well, she was ready to mail it. The problem was that the post office was more than a little out of the way from where she would be going today.

 

"Alex?" Eliza peered into the kitchen where Alex was making coffee.

"Yeah?" He turned to face her.

 

"Would you mind terribly taking the kids care package to the post office on your war to work?"

 

Although Eliza filled the care package with essentials, Alex liked to make his own slightly less necessary contributions. The best way to that was to be the one who took the box to the post office himself.

 

"Sure thing, Betsey," Alex said, already planning the brief detour he would have to take on the way to work in order to pick up what he wanted to send.

 

Eliza smiled and kissed him on the cheek, "Thank you."

 

"You can always count on me," Alex replied.

 

Once his coffee was done Alex gave Eliza one more farewell kiss before taking the box and making his way to the DC metropolitan area. But before getting too far he stopped at a strip mall and quickly went into the dollar store located there. He went in like a man on a mission making sure to fill every last bit of space in the box.

 

"Gummy bears for Angie, Twizzlers and bubble gum for Philip-" Alex muttered walking through the aisle.

 

Finishing off with several Kit Kats for AJ and Jamies' favorite Reese's Pieces, Alex made his way to the checkout counter. The kids, he thought to himself as he snagged a few tubes of LifeSavers to keep in his office, were going to love these treats.

 

Once he got to the car he arranged the box to fit all the candy and drove to the post office. Before standing in line Alex grabbed a sheet of paper, he knew somewhere in the bottom was a letter from Eliza, so he took a moment to write his own before sending it off.

 

\----------

"Hey," Philip said, swinging into the seat beside Angie, tugging an insolent-looking AJ behind him.

 

"Hey," replied Angie and Theo in unison, grinning at him.

 

"Get Jamie," Philip commanded AJ.

 

The younger Hamilton sighed and rolled his eyes, but slouched off in the direction of their brother's cabin-mates.

 

"We got the package," Philip said, placing the item in question on the table.

 

"I like the stickers," Angie smiled looking at the package that was covered in a mix of superhero and pirate stickers.

 

"Probably Jack," Philip laughed as he peeled back the tape, the first thing he did was pull out the sheet of legal paper folded in half that was sitting on top.

 

"As usual," laughed Philip, "pops probably wrote this on the way to the post office."

 

"Wait don't read it yet," Angie said, "James and AJ are on their way."

 

"Want me to leave?" Theo asked seriously.

 

"No way," insisted Angie, "You're an honorary Hamilton. Knowing mom, there's probably something in there for you too."

 

Theo smiled and settled back into her seat.  
Soon AJ returned with James and they were all gathered around.

 

"Okay you can read now," Angie declared.

 

"As you wish," Philip smirked.

 

"My Dearest Children," Philip began, putting on a passable impression of their father's voice.   
Angie giggled slightly as Philip continued to read.  
"I know you must be having a great time at camp as you do every summer," Philip read in a dramatic fashion, "but that doesn't mean I can't help make it even better."

 

"Let me guess, he sent us candy," AJ said, rolling his eyes.

 

"Hush, you," scolded Angie.

 

"To my Mop Top," Philip continued, grinning at his father's nickname for him, "I'm sure you're taking care of your siblings as you always do."

 

AJ rolled his eyes, "We don't need to be taken care of, it's camp!"

 

This time Angie elbowed him...hard.

 

"Ouch," AJ muttered.

 

"I know they may protest as to otherwise, but I'm counting on you to make sure nothing too crazy happens. Enclosed are some Twizzlers, for your weird habit of turning them into straws to drink your soda," Philip continued.

 

"He's right, that is weird," Angie commented as Philip retrieved his Twizzlers.

 

"I like being weird," Philip replied, before turning back to the letter, "and some cotton candy Hubba Bubba to share with your fellow CITs."

 

Philip grabbed the gum and went back to the letter, "Mon Ange," he gave a knowing look to his sister, "judging by the pictures you seem to be having a blast, I saw that most recent one of you and Theo with your hands covered in tie dye."

 

"Tie dye is very messy," Theo agreed with a sage nod.

 

"My hand's still a little green," Angie commented.

 

"I'm going to take a guess that Ms. Burr is sitting beside you-" Philip paused and looked at Angie, "he is just as bad as you are."

 

"Intuition!" Angie winked.

 

"So I've included a bag of gummy bears for you to practice your catching skills," Philip continued with a laugh, "I expect you to be at a hundred percent by the time you come home. That's an order."

 

"I think that's a promise I can keep," Angie grinned.

 

"To Junior-"

 

AJ shook his head at being referred to as Junior, "Why does he still call me that?"

"Do you ever say anything positive?" sniped Angie.

 

"Children, please," sighed Philip. He then returned to the letter, "Your mother would like an explanation as to why it's been so difficult to find you in any of the camp photos."

 

"It's because they only take pictures of people who're smiling," Angie murmured under her breath.

 

"Stop being mean," Jamie pouted, "I don't like it when you fight."

 

AJ glared at his sister he returned the look but neither of them said anything else to each other. Philip took a moment before continuing on with their father's letter.

 

"Break off a piece of these Kit Kats," Philip continued on, "and keep your chin up."

 

AJ smiled as Philip tossed him the Kit-Kats, "that leaves my Little Lamb-"

 

James blushed slightly at his nickname, one he'd had since he was six and didn't seem like his dad was going to let him grow out of.

 

"Don't forget that you promised me my own boondoggle bracelet this year," read Philip, "Maybe you can make it in the colors of Reese's Pieces."

 

Philip tossed his brother the bag of Reese's Pieces, "I leave you to enjoy whatever your mother sent you as well, she said something about brownies-"

 

"Mine!" Angie grabbed for the box but Philip slapped her hand away.

 

"We're looking forward to seeing you all on Visitors Day in a couple weeks," Philip kept glancing at Angie who kept looking at him innocently.

 

Setting aside their father's letter, Philip began pulling the other items out of the box. They definitely had their mother's influence written all over them. 

 

As to be expected there was extra sunscreen, something Angie was grateful for since she tended to burn quiet easily.

 

The extra can of bug spray would also come in handy, as Philip knew that AJ had accidentally on purpose forgotten to pack some.

 

Philip tossed a pack of hair ties to Angie, "Hallelujah!" she exclaimed and he then kept another for himself because the feeling of his hair sticking to the back of his neck was very unpleasant.

 

"Did she send extra toothpaste?" Jamie asked.

 

"And mouthwash," Philip confirmed, handing both items to his younger brother.

 

Philip pulled out a pack of five different colors of nail polish that said "For Angie and Theo" in their mother's neat script.

 

"Here you go," Philip passed it to the two girls.

"See? Honorary Hamilton!" Angie giggled.

 

Philip then pulled out the last item in the box. It was the alluded to package of brownies their dad had mentioned in his letter. There was an envelope taped to the top clearly a message from their mother.

 

Philip had to push Angie's hand away from the container of brownies again as he unfolded their mother's letter.

 

Philip popped the seal on the envelop, "Actually," he passed to Angie, "why don't you do the honors?"

 

"You're just trying to keep me away from the brownies," Angie pointed out, sliding the letter out of its envelope.

 

"Yes I am."

 

"Damn you," Angie glared at her brother as she unfolded the letter, "but since you asked so nicely I'll read mom's letter.

 

"You do me a great favor," drawled Philip dryly.

 

Angie briefly stuck her tongue out at him, causing Theo and Jamie to both giggle while AJ just rolled his eyes.

 

"Can you hurry up?" AJ asked, "I want to get back to my friends."

 

Angie turned back to the letter, "Alright here we go," she began, "Dear Philip, Angie, AJ, Jamie and of course Theo too."

 

"Your parents love me," Theo commented smugly.

 

"How could they not?" laughed Angie.

 

"I am very lovable," Theo grinned.

 

Angie smiled before continuing to read, "If you can't tell John had a great time decorating the box- I knew it!"

 

"God you are terrible at reading without getting distracted," Philip sighed.

 

"I call it multi-tasking," Angie scoffed before returning to the letter, "He wanted me to make sure you knew that there's a Cinderella sticker hidden somewhere and whoever finds it first will get the first hug when you come home."

 

AJ rolled his eyes.

 

"He's seven," Angie shot a glance at her younger brother.

 

"Well it's not like I don't know that," AJ muttered.

 

Angie inhaled deeply before reading some more, "I have sent some camp essentials for all of you, although AJ it does make me wonder how you forgot bug spray in the first place. I hope you haven't gotten bitten too badly, if you have there should also be some After Bite as well."

 

AJ sighed but Angie ignored him, "It should soothe any itching from the bites. Also I did send you some brownies and Angie-"

 

Angie paused as she began to blush slightly.

 

"What?" Philip pressed, "What did mom write?"

 

"Nothing," Angie mumbled.

 

"Give me that," Philip grabbed the letter, "Angie, share them with your brothers," he finished.

 

Theo burst out laughing. It didn't abate even when Angie sent a glare in her direction.

 

"Traitor," muttered Angie.

"Will you let me finish the letter?" Philip raised his brow.

"Whatever," Angie shrugged.

Philip cleared his throat, "I also know that despite what your father thinks I am well aware of the fact that he will have topped this off with candy-" Philip couldn't help but snort at that, "but please do me a favor and don't eat it all at once."

The kids laughed and even AJ cracked a smile. 

"That's it," Philip said, "Oh, wait. PS: Jack is very much looking forward to seeing you on visitor's day and is expecting many camp stories and gifts. Don't let him down. Love to everyone."


	5. Angelica's Awful No Good Very Bad Day Part 1

Mama and Daddy,

I know it’s probably not the best idea in the word for me to preface this letter with please don’t worry…but I don’t know what else to say, other than please don’t worry. Granted, Pip has stated that I’m not supposed to tell you any of this, but it just feels wrong not telling you. 

Theo and I just came back from the canoe trip from hell, now before you start saying that I’m over exaggerating. You really don’t understand, so let me tell you.

\----------

“Pip? What are you doing here?” Angie dropped her backpack on the ground.

“Wanted to say goodbye before you two took off to spend three days in the wilderness.” Philip grinned as he wrapped his arm around Angie, “What shall I tell AJ and Jamie if you don’t return?”

“Haha,” Angie elbowed her brother, “not funny.”

“It’s all perfectly safe we’re going to be just fine,” Theo said as she approached

“And it’s going to be amazing!” Angie high-fived her bunkmate and the two of them giggled.

“Theo! Angie! Let’s go!” Their counselor Amy hollered from the bus.

“Gotta go,” Angie dove in for one last hug from her brother, “see you in three days!”

\-----------

 

So overall the trip started out fine, we left camp at some ungodly hour in the morning to get to the river (I have no idea what time seeing as we weren’t allowed to have watches). And we drove and drove and drove, till we met up with Fred and Joe, the outfitters that were working with the outdoor staff from camp. They were there to help make sure we made it down the river without dying. 

 

\----------

“You look so fierce,” Theo giggled as she snapped a picture of Angie posing with a paddle attempting to look tough. 

“Because I am fierce,” Angie replied striking another pose.

“Alright ladies we have a lot of ground…river to cover so pack up your boats and we’ll be on our way,” Joe concluded. 

“Come on Ange,” Theo stuck her camera into a wet bag hoping that it would not get wet and their memories forever lost. The two of them climbed into a canoe, Angie at the front and Theo at the rear. 

“Warning, I suck at canoeing,” Angie called out.

“It’s not my fault you skipped out on canoeing lessons.” Theo shrugged as they started off down the river.

Angie dipped her paddle into the water splashing back towards Theo.

“Hey!” Theo shrieked.

“You asked for it!” Angie smirked.

 

\----------

So while it definitely took us more time than expected to arrive at the campsite, the day wasn’t terrible, I even got great tan (slightly distorted by my life jacket, but I know you are pleased that I was wearing one). The trouble didn’t come until the sun began to go down.

 

\----------

“It’s summer it’s not supposed to be this cold,” Angie whined as she pulled on a long sleeved shirt after she peeled off her damp bathing suit and hung it on the line to dry out for the next day. 

“We’re next to a river,” Theo reminded her, “which reminds me...” she dug around in her bag and tossed a dark green bottle at Angie, “bug spray.”

“Not necessary,” Angie rolled her eyes.

“Water equals mosquitos, mosquitos equal bug bites, bug bites could equal West Nile,” Theo replied, “put it on.”

“Alright Dr. Burr-” Angie rolled her eyes.

“Dr. Burr-”

“Is your mother, I know,” Angie finished her friend’s sentence, “but we all know you’re going to be a doctor someday too,” she smiled. 

Theo smiled, they then heard a shout and emerged from their tent.

“No fucking way!”

“What’s going on?” Angie went to her friend Allison.

“Apparently dinner for tonight was with Kate and Molly,” Allison sighed.

“Okay…”

“Kate and Molly are still three miles down the river,” Allison replied before storming off.

 

\----------

Having a late dinner was just the beginning of our problems, as we waited the sun started going down and the bugs started coming out. 

 

\----------

“Ouch! Theo it’s not working,” Angie scratched at her arms.

“Stop scratching!” Theo swatted her hand away, “You’ll only make it worse.”

“But it itches,” Angie pouted.

“Stop scratching,” Theo replied firmly. 

Another one of the straggling boats appeared on the river bank, “Girls go get out of those wet clothes and get bug spray!” Amy directed. 

“I hate this,” Angie started scratching at the back of her hand. 

Then on the horizon Kate and Molly appeared.

“Ladies, dinner has arrived!” One of their other counselors Sarah announced. 

The second they arrived on the shore all the makings for dinner were unloaded and they all set to work in preparing it all. 

\----------

Despite the bugs we had a good time, we ate s’mores and played games around the campfire before we all passed out in our tents.

 

\----------

“Rise and shine Allegheny Sequoia girls!”

“It’s too early for this,” Angie groaned into the makeshift pillow she’d made out of her hoodie. 

Theo laughed, “Don’t you want breakfast?”

“I want sleep,” Angie muttered. 

\----------

I will say it’s almost embarrassing just how excited we all were to eat real name brand cereal rather than the generic stuff we get at camp. After breakfast we set out for day two of our fun adventure on the river. Now this is the part where I remind you of the fact that you don’t need to worry, Theo and I are fine.

 

\----------

“Hey Hamilton got any witty songs for us to sing?” Gabby asked as she paddled past.

“Don’t rush a genius I’ll think of something,” Angie smiled, in truth she had several bits and pieces of song.

“Come on don’t deny us,” Gabby prodded.

“Have I ever failed you yet in coming up with a song for any occasion?” Angie smiled, “So just you wait.”

They had been on the river for a about an hour when the rain started, a light drizzle at first as the sky soon turned from a pleasant blue to a stormy grey. 

“At least we’re already wearing swimsuits,” Angie sighed as her hair began to droop in the rain.

“Just as long as we don’t get yeasties,” Cara wrinkled her nose from the the boat beside them.

“Eww gross, I’d rather not think about something like that.” Angie shuddered.

“Says the girl who made up a song about yeast infections,” Theo giggled.

“That was-”

“Last year,” Theo cut in.

“Right…” Angie blushed. 

As they continued to paddle down stream the storm got worse and the clouds grew even darker, there was then the loud crack of thunder followed by a flash of lightning a little while later.

“Hang on, we aren’t supposed to be on the water in weather like this,” Angie bit her lower lip, “are we?” she turned to Theo.

“I don’t think so…”

Both girls looked back to see one of the outfitters Joe just a little ways back, “Joe?” Theo called. 

“What is it girls?” Joe asked gruffy.

There was another crack of thunder and lightning with a shorter distance between the two. 

“We aren’t supposed to be on the water in weather like this,” Theo voiced her concern, “right?”

“It’s only dangerous if there are less than ten seconds between the two,” Joe replied calmly.

Theo did not appear to be any more at ease but they just kept paddling when another crack of thunder broke over head followed rather quickly by lighting.

“Theo that was three seconds, there was only three seconds between those!” Angie spoke through gritted teeth as the rain began to pour down in sheets. 

“Angie chill!” Theo snapped, “We just need to keep going.”

 

\-----------

So yes even in the that horrible rain we just kept going, and going and going. We did eventually stop briefly on this bank that was like a ninety degree drop in tall grass wading in mud up to our ankles. It sucked.

\----------

All the girls were circled up in clumps of about ten shivering in the tall grass as the rain poured down over head. 

“Next word,” Angie shivered, “how many songs can we think of that have “love” in them?”

“Seasons of Love!” one of their friends began to sing and the others joined.

“Don’t Go Wasting Your Emotion, Lay All Your Love on Me.”

The girls shrieked when the thunder cracked again.

“Okay, it’s okay…” It was clear that everyone was scared.

No one knew how long they stood there huddled in their circles but soon the rain began to let up, there seemed to be a light at the end of a very dark tunnel.

“Girls,” Sarah said as wormed her way into the circle, “according to Fred there is a campsite just around the bend and we’ll stop there for today, now come on get back to your canoes.”

Angie, Theo and their friends did as they were told and went back to the canoes, the prospect of relaxing in the shelter of their tents being the only thing that was driving them.

“Just around the riverbend!” Angie proclaimed loudly as they pushed off and continued on their way, it didn’t take long for her fellow rangers to join her singing loudly if slightly off key.

“Beyond the shore  
Where the gulls fly free  
Don't know what for  
What I dream the day might send  
Just around the riverbend-”

“Holy shit…” Stephanie looked at the sky wide eyed.

 

\----------

In Stephanie’s own words the sky looked like the Death Eater scene in Harry Potter, complete with the Dark Mark. The rain started again and it was even worse than before, which I didn’t even think was possible, it also turned out that “just around the riverbend” was actually about six miles.

 

\----------

“Just around the riverbend my ass!” Angie growled, “We have been around at least seven bends and no campsites in sight!”

“Yeah this kinda sucks,” Theo sighed.

“Kinda?” Angie raised her brow, “Only ‘kinda’?”

“Land ho!” One of the girls farther ahead shouted.

“I hope they mean it this time,” Angie groaned.

\----------

So we get to the campsite and we think that we are finally at the end of our troubles, we unpack our canoes and set up our tents.

\----------

“You’ve got one just there,” Angie poked Theo’s nose.

“Yeah? Well you’ve got one there,” Theo poked Angie’s cheek.

“It’s not one I’m just one giant mosquito bite,” Angie sighed.

"Girls? Girls!" They heard their counselors calling amidst the pouring rain.

"What's going on?" Stephanie asked. 

"I think we're being rescued," said Gabby. 

"Hallelujah!" Sarah sang out and the rest of them giggled.

\----------

Yeah, we had to be rescued. We were taken to this cabin thing in the middle of the woods where a camp bus picked us up a couple hours later. We were all soaking wet and I know it's summer and everything, but when you're that wet, like down to the bone, it's hard to feel anything but cold. So as soon as we got back to camp I changed my clothes and we went to the director's house where we all huddled up by the fireplace and drank hot chocolate. It was actually really nice... Until our counselors had to take all of us to the infirmary for benadryl for our bug bites so that we could sleep that night.

I know I prefaced this letter by saying that you shouldn't worry and I'm going to reiterate that now. I'm talking to you, dad. Obviously Theo and I made it back in one piece, it's over, we're fine. I don't think our cabin is going to be going canoeing again any time soon, though.

Lots of love,

Angie

P.S: Mama, please tell Dad to stop worrying!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was based on a real life camp experience.


	6. Angelica's Awful No Good Very Bad Day Part 2

"Betsey I'm home!" Alex called out as he walked through the front door and using his nose he followed the smell of dinner straight to the kitchen. And there was Eliza just taking a lasagna out of the oven and carefully placing it on the counter.

"Hello," Eliza smiled and went to embrace her husband, "we got a letter from Angie today."

"Have you read it yet?" Alex asked, unable to keep the excitement out of his voice. He always loved getting letters from the kids when they were at camp. 

"Of course not," chuckled Eliza, pressing a kiss to his cheek, "I was waiting for you."

Alex grinned he turned to see the letter on the counter behind Eliza and immediately recognized Angie's scrawl. He opened the envelope and withdrew the letter which he noted was much longer than her previous ones.

When he started reading, however, the grin slipped a little. 

"Uh oh," he murmured.

"What is it?" Eliza asked pulling out the plates and silverware.

When Alex didn't answer, Eliza abandoned her task and went to read the letter over his shoulder. His steadily tensing shoulder.

"We've gotta call... We need to talk to Angie..." Alex muttered, "right now."

"Alex..." Eliza sighed taking the letter from him, "she said she's fine-"

"I need to talk to Angel," Alex continued to insist.

"Alexander," Eliza said, more firmly now, "you need to calm down."

"It was a storm, Betsey," replied Alex, looking at her with wide eyes, his breath much more shallow than usual, "She was out in the water during a storm and I know she says she's okay, but I need to make sure. Please. I just need to make sure."

"Alex..." Eliza sighed knowing it was really no use, she went to where they tacked the camp number onto the fridge and gave it to Alex.

 

With shaking hands Alex quickly dialed the number tapping his foot against their hardwood floors as he waited for someone to answer.

"Good afternoon," chirped a woman's voice over the line, "you've reached Camp Allegheny and the office of camp director Kaylee Finter. How may I help you?"

"Ms Finter, this is Alexander Hamilton. I'd like to speak to my daughter Angie please," Alex told her. 

"Mr Hamilton, of course you know that we don't allow our campers to use the phone except in emergencies," the director said, "and visiting day is only a week away."

"I know but you don't understand I really need to speak with her," Alex was struggling with trying to keep calm.

Eliza sensed this and went to take his hand and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Mr Hamilton," Kaylee tried again, "the campers are currently in the middle of activities before dinner and I can't just-"

"You sent my daughter canoeing in a thunderstorm," interrupted Alex, "Now, I'm a public political figure and my history isn't exactly private, as I'm sure you very well know."

It was obvious by the silence on the other end of the line that she knew exactly what Alex was referring to. 

"I'll have her brought to the phone," the camp director said finally.

There was silence for a couple of minutes as Alex waited.

"Dad?"

At the sound of Angie's voice Alex let out a deep sigh, "Angel..."

"Dad, I told you not to panic," Angie said. 

Alex chuckled, "As if that was going to work."

"Pip was right."

"Well for what it's worth I'm glad you told us," Alex began to smiled feeling more relaxed.

"Dad..."

"Angie," Alex replied in the same tone of voice. 

Angie giggled.

"I'm so glad you made it back alright," Alex added, "and don't ever do anything like that again."

"Me and Theo's canoeing days are over," Angie laughed.

"Good," replied Alex, only half jokingly. He would be more than happy if his kids never had to deal with a fraction of the fear he had dealt with all those years ago.

"Love you, Dad," Angie replied.

"I love you too, Mon Ange," Alex smiled.

"I have to get ready for dinner," Angie told him, "It's pizza night and if I'm late I'll get stuck with one of those slices that has too much sauce and not enough cheese."

Alex chuckled, "Alright, go get your pizza. Tell your brothers that your mother and I said hi and we'll see you all on visitor's day."

"Okay," Angie laughed, "bye Dad!"

"Bye Angie," Alex sighed as he reluctantly hung up.

"I told you she was fine," Eliza finally spoke up, "help me set the table?"


	7. Seven Year Itch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leaves of three let them be, to bad Philip didn't listen.

Philip had received the rather rude awakening upon discovering most of the lower half of his body itched like crazy. Upon throwing his sheets back he saw that he had angry red welts covering his legs.

"What the hell," he grumbled, his fingers twitching with the urge to scratch. 

As he began thinking about his actions the previous day, Philip couldn't help but let out a pained whimper. He knew exactly what had happened. 

The day had started normal enough. Breakfast, activities, lunch. It was in the afternoon during swimming that Philip noticed her watching him. Polly Hartnell, she was a year younger than him and Philip had maybe talked with her once or twice. 

She was definitely cute, a red head with almost as many freckles as him. And okay, maybe it was just the teenage hormones, but he could suddenly think of nothing but kissing her full, pink lips and...his line of thought was cut off as he was playfully pushed into the lake, the shock of the cold water thankfully subduing a potentially embarrassing situation in his swim trunks.

Philip had found Polly during their free time in the art room where she was working with clay. It hadn't been particularly hard for him to turn on the Hamilton charm and soon she was flirting right back at him.

After dinner, as they were all surging out of the dining hall, Polly caught his eye and gave him an inviting smile before slipping around the side of the building. Philip found her there behind the dining hall and they retreated into some nearby greenery.

They giggled as they stepped over the fence and made their way down to the lake side pushing through bushes in their path.

Polly's shoe caught on a fallen branch and she stumbled. Philip caught her but ended up staggering through leaves that came up to his knees, Polly landing against his chest. 

"Whoops," she giggled, then kissed him.

Philip grinned and happily kissed her back, he didn't know how long they were back there but he managed to get back into his cabin unnoticed before lights out. He spent most of the night thinking about Polly and the possibility of kissing her again.

Looking back at it now, Philip raked his memory for the warnings that they'd been given at the beginning of every camp year about straying over the fence. He groaned when he realized what must have happened. Poison ivy. He and Polly and tramped directly through a patch of poison ivy.

Philip groaned as he scratched at one of the welts and sighed, there wasn't much he could do. With a defeated sigh he got dressed and followed his cabin mates to the dining hall.

This was the first time in the summer that he cursed the fact it was so warm and all he had to wear were shorts. The rash was probably much more visible to him than to anyone else, but Philip still felt like it was totally obvious.

He tried desperately not to scratch as he went to get a bowl of cereal, and when he spotted Angie and Theo just ahead he nearly turned around sat back down knowing he would never hear the end of it. But it was too late, they'd seen him...

"Hey, Pip!" Angie greeted cheerily, falling into step beside him in the food line, "Sleep well?"

"Fine," Philip grit out. 

"I'm sure," replied Angie suggestively.

"Hush," Philip replied sharply.

"You know I hope whatever you've got isn't contagious," Angie smirked, "cause Polly Hartnell's legs look that too."

"Don't worry, Angie," Theo put in, her grin matching her friend's entirely, "stupidity isn't contagious. And only someone without a brain would think that a patch of poison ivy was the perfect make out spot."

Philip could feel his blush spread up to the tips of his ears, Angie making fun of him was something he could deal with. Theo? Not so much.


	8. It'll Grow Back

"Mama are we there yet?" Angie asked her legs swinging as she sat in her car seat as they drove along the twisting winding road to Camp Allegheny.

"We'll be there soon, Angel," Alex promised, "Only half an hour more."

"Why does Philip go to camp so far away?" Junior asked from the back seat.

"Because it'd be silly to have camp in the city," Angie turned to look at her little brother.

"Why is it silly?" Junior asked.

"Because camp is for things like swimming and archery not riding the subway and feeding pigeons," Angie replied, the "duh" evident in her voice. 

"Okay, fine," Junior grumbled, "You don't have to be so mean about it."

"Mama are we there yet?" Angie asked yet again. "I wanna see Pip!" she added.

Alex laughed, reaching back to squeeze Angie's knee lightly, "We all do."

Little Jack gave a small gurgle in his sleep as if in agreement.

Angie smiled and sat back in her car seat but it most definitely didn't stop her from asking another five times before they pulled into the parking lot that was filled with cars and parents.

She continued to fidget as Alex carefully lifted Jack from his car seat and Eliza did the same for Jamie. 

"Walk don't run," Eliza commanded when they were finally ready to make their way to the main camp area where the campers were uniting with their families. 

Angie took off like a shot, clearly not heeding her mother's orders, and looked for Philip. He had fairly recently decided to grow his hair out and his curls had been long enough to hang to his ears when he'd left for camp. That was part of the reason why Angie didn't recognize him at first. 

"Pip," she gasped, "What happened?"

A blush spread across her older brother's freckled face as he sheepishly wrung his hands.

"Lice..." Philip muttered.

Eliza gasped upon seeing her son with his shorn head, not even the slightest trace of his classic curls.

Angie slowly approached and reached out to touch Philip's head, "But..."

"The whole cabin got lice," said Philip, bending his head slightly to let Angie feel, "and it would have taken so long to do all the combing and stuff so they just cut everybody's hair."

"Well it's only hair," Eliza sighed, "it'll grow soon enough."

"You just don't understand the connection a young man has with his first full head of hair," Alex sighed, placing a hand on Philip's shoulder, "I remember when I first grew out my hair. When mamí made me cut it all off I was devastated."

"Well I like your hair long so don't you ever cut it," Eliza laughed and leaned into kiss her husband on the cheeks.

"Eeewww!" Their three eldest chorused.

Both parents laughed. 

"Alright, Philip," said Eliza, "Now that we've gotten over the whole hair debacle, why don't you show us around the camp, hmm?"

"Okay," Philip nodded his smile grew when Angie latched onto his arm.

**Author's Note:**

> Ages:  
> Philip-17  
> Angie-15  
> Theo-15  
> AJ-13  
> James-11


End file.
